Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is the best anime series of 2024. It combines patient fantasy storytelling, exceptional character writing, memorable action direction, and a thoughtful meditation on time, mortality, and friendship. Close behind are The Apothecary Diaries, DAN DA DAN, and Delicious in Dungeon, each outstanding in a different mode.
This ranking covers series that aired substantial material during the 2024 calendar year, including continuations that began in late 2023. It weighs narrative quality, direction and animation, character writing, originality or genre execution, and how satisfying the completed 2024 material is.
The ranking at a glance
| Rank | Series | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End | Reflective fantasy and character drama |
| 2 | The Apothecary Diaries | Mystery, court intrigue, and clever protagonists |
| 3 | DAN DA DAN | Supernatural action, horror-comedy, and style |
| 4 | Delicious in Dungeon | Fantasy comedy and ensemble world-building |
| 5 | Girls Band Cry | Emotionally messy music drama |
| 6 | Orb: On the Movements of the Earth | Historical drama and dangerous ideas |
| 7 | Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night | Coming-of-age stories and creative anxiety |
| 8 | Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! | Romantic comedy and character-based humor |
| 9 | Solo Leveling | Action and progression fantasy |
| 10 | Kaiju No. 8 | Monster spectacle and accessible shonen action |
How “of 2024” is defined here
This list ranks anime series that aired a substantial part of a season or cour during the 2024 calendar year. That means it includes the 2024 continuation of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and The Apothecary Diaries, even though both began in late 2023. It excludes films, music videos, and shows whose principal release fell outside the year.
That distinction is important. The eligibility period for the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards ran from October 1, 2023, through December 31, 2024, covering five anime seasons. Awards and year-end lists are useful corroboration, but they are not the ranking by themselves. The order below weighs five things: narrative quality, direction and animation, character writing, originality or genre execution, and how satisfying the material released in 2024 is as a viewing experience.
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The 10 best anime series of 2024, ranked
1. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Best for: Fantasy, character drama, reflective adventure, and detailed world-building.
Frieren is the most complete television anime on this list. Its central question is deceptively simple: what happens after the hero’s party has already defeated the great evil? The answer is a fantasy adventure about memory, mortality, friendship, and the radically different ways humans and elves experience time.
The series is patient without being empty. Quiet conversations, small acts of kindness, and apparently minor encounters accumulate emotional weight because Frieren is slowly learning how much her brief human relationships mattered. When the story turns to action, the fights are carefully staged rather than inserted merely for spectacle. The examination arc expands the world and tests its magic system while preserving the show’s intimate focus on people and the traces they leave behind.
Its unusually strong industry recognition supports the critical case. At the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Frieren won Best Drama, Best Director for Keiichiro Saito, and Best Background Art. It also received nominations for Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Animation, Best Character Design, Best Main Character, and other categories.
Why it ranks first: Few fantasy anime align emotional restraint, visual design, action direction, and world-building as effectively. It is the safest overall recommendation for viewers who want a long-form fantasy with literary themes rather than nonstop battles.
Viewers who want to continue with the source material can look for the official English-language Frieren manga from VIZ. Availability of individual volumes and editions can vary by retailer.
2. The Apothecary Diaries
Best for: Mystery, historical fantasy, palace intrigue, clever protagonists, and slow-burn romance.
Set in a fictionalized imperial court, The Apothecary Diaries follows Maomao, an observant young woman whose knowledge of medicine, poisons, and practical science makes her unusually useful—and unusually dangerous—in the palace. Her investigations begin as compact mysteries, but the cases gradually expose questions of class, gender, court politics, and institutional power.
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The show’s greatest structural strength is the way its parts connect. Individual incidents involving illness, food, cosmetics, or suspicious deaths are satisfying on their own, while the larger story steadily develops Maomao’s complicated relationship with Jinshi and the social machinery surrounding them. Maomao’s dry reactions and Aoi Yuki’s Japanese voice performance give the series a distinctive comic rhythm without reducing its more serious material to jokes.
The A.V. Club highlighted the balance between episodic mysteries and broader ambitions. At the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, the series received Anime of the Year and Best New Series nominations, while Aoi Yuki won for Japanese voice performance as Maomao.
Why it ranks second: It crosses genre boundaries exceptionally well. Even viewers who do not usually watch action anime can enjoy its mysteries, social observation, understated comedy, and central performance.
For readers who want more Maomao after the anime, the official English-language The Apothecary Diaries manga and light novels are published through Square Enix Manga & Books. The manga and light novels are separate formats, so check the edition before buying.
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3. DAN DA DAN
Best for: Supernatural action, horror-comedy, romance, stylish animation, and high-energy viewing.
Rank #2
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DAN DA DAN combines supernatural horror, extraterrestrial science fiction, romantic comedy, coming-of-age drama, and kinetic battle animation. Momo believes in ghosts; Okarun believes in aliens. Their argument gives the opening premise an immediate comic engine, but the series quickly turns their growing friendship into its emotional center.
The show’s visual identity is remarkably flexible. It can move from grotesque horror to absurd comedy, then into stylish action or sincere teenage vulnerability without losing its momentum. That tonal collision is part of the appeal, although it can also make the series feel less controlled than the two titles above it.
Crunchyroll nominated DAN DA DAN across an unusually broad set of categories, including Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Animation, Best Director, Best Character Design, Best Action, Best Opening, Best Ending, and Best Score. It won Best Character Design and Best Anime Song for “Otonoke.”
Why it ranks third: It is 2024’s most energetic synthesis of popular anime modes. Its invention, momentum, and chemistry between Momo and Okarun are difficult to match, even if its frequent tonal shifts prevent it from feeling quite as unified as Frieren or The Apothecary Diaries.
If the anime’s supernatural action leaves you wanting more, the official print Dandadan manga from VIZ is the natural source-material recommendation. Edition and stock availability can differ by retailer.
4. Delicious in Dungeon
Best for: Fantasy comedy, ensemble casts, cooking, ecology, and inventive world-building.
Delicious in Dungeon starts with a wonderfully clear joke: adventurers must cook and eat monsters while exploring a dangerous dungeon. The premise is not a disposable gimmick, however. Food becomes the show’s method for explaining the dungeon’s ecosystem, the party’s personalities, the culture of fantasy adventuring, and the practical problem of staying alive underground.
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The series received nominations at the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards for Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Animation, Best Comedy, Best Director, and several design and character categories.
Why it ranks fourth: It may be the year’s most structurally inventive fantasy comedy and its strongest ensemble show. It sits below the top three mainly because the larger dramatic payoff depends more heavily on story development beyond the material released in 2024.
5. Girls Band Cry
Best for: Music anime, emotionally abrasive characters, band drama, and under-seen originals.
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Rank #3
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The band’s songs are not detached performance breaks. They extend the characters’ conflicts and give form to emotions that the members cannot express comfortably in conversation. The 3D computer-generated presentation is also more expressive than merely functional, using body language and facial acting to sell the characters’ volatility.
Crunchyroll identified the show as an original anime and nominated it for Best Original Anime. The A.V. Club and The Mary Sue both singled it out in their year-end coverage. For U.S. viewers and audiences in other territories, Crunchyroll released all 13 episodes with subtitles beginning November 6, 2024, which helped make the series accessible internationally after its original broadcast period.
Why it ranks fifth: It is the ranking’s strongest under-the-radar character drama. Its delayed international availability limited its visibility during the broadcast year, but that distribution issue should not be mistaken for a weakness in the show itself.
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Best for: Historical drama, intellectual fiction, moral conflict, and serious pacing.
Orb is a severe, ideas-driven historical-philosophical drama about dangerous knowledge and the social cost of challenging accepted cosmology. Rather than presenting scientific discovery as the achievement of isolated geniuses, it focuses on institutions, censorship, religious authority, the transmission of knowledge, and the way one generation’s work can survive through another.
Its deliberate tone will not suit viewers looking for fast comic relief or constant action. The show asks the audience to sit with fear, uncertainty, and moral compromise. Its historical atmosphere and thematic ambition, however, make it one of 2024’s most distinctive anime series.
Why it ranks sixth: It is a major recommendation for viewers who want anime built around ideas and are willing to accept a slower, more austere narrative. The placement reflects accessibility and pacing, not a lack of ambition.
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Best for: Coming-of-age drama, music, online culture, friendship, and creative anxiety.
This contemporary series follows four young women who collaborate on an anonymous online music project while confronting creative insecurity, social pressure, identity, and the fear of being seen. Its central premise understands both sides of online self-expression: a persona can give someone the courage to create, but it can also become another kind of trap.
The show is visually attractive and uses music as part of its emotional framing rather than as decoration. Its strongest episodes capture the exhilaration and embarrassment of making something public, especially when the creators are not certain who they are outside the project. The ensemble premise gives the series several perspectives on ambition and self-worth.
Crunchyroll nominated it for Best Original Anime alongside Girls Band Cry, BUCCHIGIRI?!, Metallic Rouge, Ninja Kamui, and Train to the End of the World.
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Rank #4
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Why it ranks seventh: It is emotionally relevant and often memorable, but its late-stage character resolutions are somewhat less consistent than those of the higher-ranked dramas.
8. Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!
Best for: Romantic comedy, school anime, ensemble banter, and emotionally intelligent humor.
Makeine shifts the familiar romantic-comedy perspective toward the girls who do not receive the expected romantic ending. Rejection, embarrassment, and friendship are treated as meaningful experiences rather than disposable setups for the next joke.
The humor is character-based rather than dependent only on parody. The heroines’ awkwardness and disappointment become sources of both comedy and genuine feeling, while the expressive direction gives even small reactions considerable force.
Crunchyroll awarded the series Best Slice of Life at the 2025 Anime Awards.
Why it ranks eighth: It is one of 2024’s sharpest romantic comedies, with strong timing and a generous view of characters who are used to being defined by losing. Its scope is deliberately narrower than the dramas and fantasy series above it, but that narrowness is also part of its charm.
9. Solo Leveling
Best for: Action, progression fantasy, battles, game-like power systems, and pure hype viewing.
Solo Leveling is the most direct power-fantasy recommendation on the list. Sung Jinwoo begins as the weakest hunter and gains a path toward becoming an increasingly formidable fighter. That progression supplies a clear escalation structure: new abilities, stronger enemies, bigger set pieces, and the satisfaction of watching a previously powerless protagonist take control.
The show’s visual presentation emphasizes impact, scale, and spectacle. It is built to make fights feel consequential and upgrades feel exciting, which makes it particularly accessible to viewers who want action first and thematic complexity second.
At the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Solo Leveling won Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Action Anime, and Best Main Character.
Why it ranks ninth: Its production and pacing make it highly effective entertainment, but its character and thematic writing are less layered than the titles above it. Its central appeal is powerful, though narrower.
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10. Kaiju No. 8
Best for: Monster action, military teams, adult protagonists, and accessible shonen storytelling.
Kaiju No. 8 combines monster spectacle with a workplace and second-chance premise. Kafka Hibino is an adult who has failed to achieve his childhood goal before gaining the ability to transform into a kaiju. That setup gives the series a more immediately relatable protagonist than a typical adolescent battle formula.
The Defense Force framework supports large-scale action, team dynamics, and the tension between Kafka’s public identity and his secret power. It is a polished, crowd-pleasing show with a strong hook and an easy-to-understand emotional premise.
Crunchyroll nominated it for Anime of the Year, Best New Series, Best Action, Best Animation, Best Character Design, Best Main Character, Best Opening, and Best Ending.
Why it ranks tenth: It belongs in the top ten because of its execution, accessibility, and broad appeal. It is less formally distinctive and less thematically complete than the nine series above it, but it remains an effective monster-action recommendation.
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A ten-place list necessarily leaves out several excellent shows. Oshi no Ko Season 2 delivered sharper entertainment-industry satire. The Elusive Samurai offered inventive historical action and expressive animation. The Dangers in My Heart Season 2 was a standout romance continuation, while Sound! Euphonium 3 provided major character drama for viewers already invested in the franchise. Train to the End of the World was among the year’s most imaginative original premises.
These titles were omitted because the list is limited to ten and prioritizes either especially complete 2024 arcs or unusually broad recommendation value. They were nevertheless part of the year’s serious awards conversation, reflected in Crunchyroll’s 2025 nominee field.
Which 2024 anime should you watch first?
- Choose Frieren for the best overall combination of fantasy, emotion, world-building, and direction.
- Choose The Apothecary Diaries if you want mysteries, palace politics, and an exceptionally clever lead.
- Choose DAN DA DAN for the year’s most energetic mixture of horror, science fiction, romance, and action.
- Choose Delicious in Dungeon for fantasy comedy that develops into serious, carefully designed world-building.
- Choose Girls Band Cry for a music drama with characters who are allowed to be abrasive and emotionally complicated.
- Choose Orb for historical ideas, censorship, intellectual courage, and a more austere mood.
- Choose Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night for online creativity, friendship, and anxiety about being seen.
- Choose Makeine for romantic-comedy banter with more emotional intelligence than its premise suggests.
- Choose Solo Leveling for a straightforward, visually forceful progression fantasy.
- Choose Kaiju No. 8 for accessible monster action with an adult, second-chance protagonist.
Where to watch these anime
For U.S. viewers, Crunchyroll’s 2025 nominee guide listed leading titles from this group across Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, and HIDIVE. Streaming rights are territory- and date-dependent, so a catalog listing should be treated as a starting point rather than a permanent guarantee. Check the current legal catalog in your country before subscribing or buying a digital season.
Girls Band Cry deserves a special availability note: Crunchyroll released all 13 episodes with subtitles in the United States and other territories beginning November 6, 2024, after the show had already gained attention as an original series.
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Final verdict
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is the best anime series of 2024 because it is the most balanced and complete achievement here. It works as fantasy adventure, quiet character drama, and a meditation on time and memory. If its tone is too subdued for your taste, the next choice depends on what you want: The Apothecary Diaries for mystery, DAN DA DAN for kinetic genre collision, or Delicious in Dungeon for inventive fantasy comedy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are Frieren and The Apothecary Diaries included if they started in 2023?
Yes. This ranking includes series that aired a substantial portion of their relevant season or cour during calendar year 2024. Frieren and The Apothecary Diaries began in late 2023 but released major 2024 material, so they qualify under that editorial definition.
What is the best anime series of 2024 to watch first?
Start with Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End for the strongest overall combination of story, direction, character writing, and world-building. Choose The Apothecary Diaries for mystery, DAN DA DAN for high-energy supernatural action, or Delicious in Dungeon for fantasy comedy.
Where can I legally watch the best anime from 2024?
Legal availability changes by country and date. Crunchyroll’s 2025 awards guide listed titles from this ranking across Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, and HIDIVE for U.S. viewers, but you should check the current catalog in your territory before watching.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Start with Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End for the best overall experience. Choose The Apothecary Diaries for mystery, DAN DA DAN for action and style, Delicious in Dungeon for fantasy comedy, and Girls Band Cry for the year’s best under-seen character drama.
Quick Recap
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